Signing Up For Sports

A healthy body leads to a healthy mind. We’ve all heard that statement, but how often do we, as parents, let the notion of physical education slide with our kids – especially if our child tends to be a target of bullying or is just generally clumsy?

There’s a lot you can learn from organized sports, beyond developing healthy habits to keep your body fit. Teamwork is an important life skill people need, but that’s not always the goal of signing up for a sport.

Stepping outside your comfort zone and pushing your body to a limit can help a person develop a work ethic and stamina for striving towards goals that will help them long after they’ve cooled down and showered. More importantly, though, getting involved in a sport at an early age encourages the development of positive coping skills for when a person needs an outlet for letting go of stress or finding a way to relax.

Selecting a sport for your child usually involves a balance between time commitment (someone’s got to do the driving) and finances (ice hockey, for example, requires a lot of expensive equipment). A child’s personal preference also plays a big role in picking a sport.

If your idea of a good time does not include watching a bunch of little kids standing idly in a baseball field – while 3 kids try to do something with a small ball (namely the pitcher, the catcher, and the batter), then take a look at these 95 different organized sports your kid can learn.

We’ve taken that list and broken it down into a short list of sport suggestions for 6 different types of kids.

Your child has an incredible amount of energy, try:

Swimming or water polo

Track and field

Speed skating

Your child is a natural risk taker, try:

Parkour (yes, there’s a class for that)

Diving

Kickboxing

Your child takes a logical approach to everything, try:

Billiards (think vectors)

Juggling (there’s math involved)

Orienteering

Your child lacks coordination, try:

Kayaking

Horseback riding

Weightlifting

Your child doesn’t like team sports, try:

Wrestling

Golf

Tennis

Your child doesn’t like competing with others, try:

Archery

Rock climbing

Roller skating

What sports have your kids participated in? What’s been their favorite?What’s been dreaded?

alessa

Alessa Giampaolo Keener, M.Ed. works with clients around the world in developing individualized learning plans that value the strengths and weaknesses of the whole child. While her focus has long been on the social-emotional needs of the gifted child, Alessa also works with governmental agencies in helping to meet the educational needs of children in foster care, as well as those involved in the juvenile justice system. Alessa lives in Maryland, where she homeschooled her kids into college. You can email Alessa at alessa.education (at) gmail.com